


A Crow Looked At Me

by SalazzleDazzle



Series: Of Crows and Coyotes [3]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: City Age (Destiny), Fallen | Eliksni, Gen, Mild Language, Six Coyotes, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26698879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazzleDazzle/pseuds/SalazzleDazzle
Summary: After three years as a Guardian, Nadiya is starting to find her footing. Alongside old friends Brand-13 and Royce, the fireteam sets out to investigate an independent colony in the Andes Mountains that the Last City has lost contact with. As is so often the case, there is more at stake than the Guardians suspect...
Series: Of Crows and Coyotes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772311
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, Salazzle here! This is the third story in my 'Of Crows and Coyotes' series, and it'll be a comparatively short one. Each story ought to be enjoyable entirely on their own, but there are some serialized aspects as I set things up for the future. And I suppose 'A Crow Looked At Me' is more of an interlude than anything. Regardless, I hope you enjoy reading, and please give me feedback! I appreciate your time!

“So? What do you think?”

Nadiya narrowed her eyes in confusion. Behind her helmet, the bird couldn’t notice her expression, but she swore it reacted. Cocking its head in acknowledgement. A tick of movement on its wing to prod at her, as if saying, “What? Got a problem?”

The crow was perched on a boulder penetrating the thick snow, staring at the Hunter. It’s feathers shone in the evening sun. Another small detail Nadiya found odd. Feathers didn’t have that glint to them. It was distinctly… metallic.

“Nadiya? You still with me?”

“Hm?” The Hunter broke her staring contest, recognizing her ghost’s concern. Bluejay had inched closer to her, his eye tilted down with curiosity.

“I’m sorry, I guess I zoned out for a second.” Nadiya shook her head, shedding a few snowflakes that had failed to stick to her metal helm. The crow had now, inexplicably, vanished. “What were you saying?”

“I was just asking why you think people would decline Guardian protection. I just don’t understand.”

Nadiya smiled, patting the drone with her free hand. “Of course you don’t understand. You’re, like, the Traveler’s number one fan.”

“Hard not to be,” Bluejay responded, shaking his shell as he backed away. “But don’t do that. You know I _hate_ that.”

“If you’re allowed to read my mind, I can show some physical affection. It’s a fair trade,” the Hunter said, withdrawing her gloved hand. “Besides, if you think that’s uncomfortable, you don’t know the half of it.”

Bluejay rolled his eye. “Yeah, yeah. You still haven’t answered my question though.”

“I don’t know,” Nadiya said. “Walk and talk?”

“Sure. Just a little bit further to the uplink. Couldn’t get through to Royce or Brand from here. Guess we’re too high up. Thanks for waiting, though.”

The Hunter continued along the ridge, Bluejay hovering alongside. They’d found an easy path up the mountain, towering above the valley below the left. The snow-capped Andes range could be brutal near any given summit year-round, but today was a thankfully calm day. Just a little bit of snow swirling off the ground thanks to the wind, with the sun shining through light cloud cover. Nadiya couldn’t ask for a better view.

“I just don’t understand. The Last City’s not what it used to be,” the ghost mused. “The wall’s almost up, Faction Wars ended a few years before I rezzed you. I don’t get why people refuse to band together.”

Nadiya shrugged. “People like freedom. The walls coming up around the City might feel like a cage to some people. All these years after the Collapse, I can understand why some folks wouldn’t trust the Traveler. Or Risen, for that matter.”

“ _Guardians_ ,” Bluejay corrected her. “The Warlords are ancient history now. There’s nothing to be scared of.”

“Three years is ancient history?” Nadiya smirked. “Guess I’m an old lady. Bruce doesn’t feel all that long ago.”

“I wish you’d stop bringing him up.”

“Not when it keeps winning me arguments.” The Hunter could practically feel the judgment from her ghost. “Besides, I’m over it. _Ancient history._ ”

“I hope so,” Bluejay whined.

“But he’s proof enough that we’re not perfect. Not all Risen were Guardians. For people who never joined up with the Last City in the first place, that’s probably harder to forget. Some of us just aren’t the beacons of light the Traveler expected us to be, I guess.”

“But things are better now,” Bluejay protested. “Guardians rarely turn out evil anymore. Worst case scenario, they’re just weird.”

“Like Brand.”

“Hm. Like Brand.”

In her three years as a Guardian, Nadiya had spent the majority of that time with Brand-13 and Royce. It wasn’t that she didn’t click with other Hunters, the three of them had just decided that they worked well together. None of the them had had a consistent trio before then – Nadiya for obvious reasons, the others through happenstance – and they’d decided to group up permanently.

With a well-rounded team, the Vanguard tended to send them on routine missions. Scouting, resource recovery, dispatching the occasional cell of Fallen that grew too large near the City. Never anything too exciting, but that didn’t bother Nadiya too much. She was still cutting her teeth as a Guardian, figuring out what gear worked for her, honing her senses. She hadn’t even been off Earth yet.

Fireteam Kraken (Royce’s brainchild) had been sent here on an observe and report mission. Pretty routine stuff. A satellite uplink had stopped transmitting to the City’s network, so they’d been chosen to figure out the problem.

The Last City itself was located along the Andes range, though a good two hundred miles from this spot. Instead, the uplink was an emergency beacon: only meant to be triggered in case a nearby village of independent people needed City help. Whether that be supplies due to harsh winters, or worries about encroaching Fallen, a march up to the uplink could alleviate the problem.

Other than that, the uplink normally just stayed online, assuring the City’s technicians that it was, in fact, active. That is, until a day before, when it mysteriously shut down.

“Uplink tower’s just a mile up ahead now,” Bluejay reported. “We’ll make it there well before sundown.”

Indeed, Nadiya could see the structure from here. Without Guardian equipment, the sun might’ve been blinding at this angle, but the Hunter was better outfitted than in her maiden days. From here, the thirty-foot tower was plainly visible.

The pair continued along the ridge for another twenty minutes or so. Nadiya’s footing was a little unnerving thanks to the couple inches of snow covering any unstable rock. But it was much too narrow for her sparrow to be a smart option. It was a long way down cliffs on either side, and though death was only a minor inconvenience, the lost time spent climbing back up would be a real pain.

So, Nadiya settled for her agile Hunter’s footing. Not all too bad, all things considered. The fireteam had figured the climb would be much easier for her without the other two slowing her down, so Brand and Royce remained closer to ground, surveying the village for any signs of disturbance.

Eventually, the Guardian and her ghost reached the metal tower. Nadiya’d only needed to get a double jump off a couple of times after some brief slips, but she still took a knee to catch her breath. Bluejay zipped over to the structure’s control panel to get to work.

“I’ll just inspect this right quick,” the ghost chirped, “Hopefully we can be done and dusted in a few minutes. I’d rather not get caught up here with high winds!”

“Okay.” Nadiya inspected her weapons absent-mindedly. An Aachen-LR2 kinetic sniper, more useful in close range combat than your average sniper but not as great for scouting. The low-zoom scope left a lot to be desired. Plus a Cadenza-11 solar pulse rifle, again not entirely in her wheelhouse. Nadiya seldom used pulses, but whatever, she was experimenting.

The Hunter had opted not to bring a heavy weapon along. Too often she found them just cumbersome, and it was rare for Kraken to run into situations where that much firepower was even necessary. Might as well pack light and leave Bluejay with a minute amount of data to spare. If that was even how ghost transmatting worked? Nadiya still wasn’t entirely sure.

Bluejay’s voice appeared at the back of her head, their neural link long-since established. “Satellite dish is fine. It doesn’t attract too much snow, and everything seems to be in working order. Same with the solar paneling. Must be something with the control box…”

Nadiya hummed an affirmation, wiping away at the frost buildup on her guns with her cape. Though she’d picked up much better functioning armor over the last few years, her cape was still the same that Bluejay’d gifted to her. Soft leather, with the Aspect of Blood threaded in green cloth. Nothing too flashy; Hunters tended to dress more zany than the other classes from what Nadiya could gather, but that wasn’t her style.

Her routine must’ve lasted a few minutes with no interruption when she suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her. Hunter’s intuition, perhaps. Nadiya searched around briefly, only to find the same crow perched on a metal pipe above Bluejay.

And once again, it was staring at her. As if it knew something she didn’t. Nadiya glowered at it, unsure what to make of it. She was still pretty sure it looked off – its feathers didn’t seem to move in the wind, and it seemed rather large for a crow. But maybe she was just going crazy. What could there be to worry about?

Then again, it sure was holding its gaze on her. Nadiya stowed away her guns, drawing her knife, and slowly stood from her knee. The crow cocked its head once more, the sides of it untouched by the sun’s light seemingly absorbing everything. A sheer black, that she could swear was unnatural. What was with this thing?

“Nadiya? Think I found something.”

Bluejay’s words bounced off the Hunter, who was cautiously approaching the tower. Only a few more steps, and then a quick jump and slash. Nothing to startle it, no crack of a gunshot to alert the village. Nice… and… easy…

“Nadiya! What in the Traveler’s name are you doing?”

The Hunter finally snapped out of her trance, turning back to her ghost in a somewhat threatening motion. “Sorry. I, uh, don’t know.”

“Well, I think I figured out our problem. Have a look.”

Nadiya glanced back up, only to find the crow missing once more. She blushed with a bit of embarrassment. What was her problem? It was just a bird.

Bluejay had disconnected his spindles of light from the open control box, hovering next to it with anticipation. Nadiya sheathed her knife and stepped closer to her companion, ready for another case of Bluejay’s show and tell. Where almost everything went over her head.

“So nothing in particular is busted with the tower. Uplink’s working fine, it’s collecting solar energy just fine. I can even input messages to our satellites in space, no problem. But I’m not getting any signal back. Or confirmation of delivery. So I did some rooting around, and found this: some kind of external disrupting mechanism.”

“Well that was easier to understand than normal,” Nadiya said. “So what, the Fallen have figured out our tech? Seems like an easy fix. We can log it for the engineers or something to figure it out.”

Bluejay made the ghost equivalent of a scoff. “Well, no, it’s not that simple.” He traced his spindles of light over the offending object. It was no more than an inch in any direction, a sleek dark blue. “The technology in this thing… I don’t understand it.”

“That might be a first.”

“The materials making its composition, they’re unlike anything I’ve ever scanned before. No records of any chemical compounds or rock compositions. And without knowing _what_ this thing is made of, I can’t understand _how_ it works.”

“Weird.” Nadiya lifted a hand to her chin as she thought. “Is it a problem?”

“Of course it is! This thing’s made of something that hasn’t been discovered in all the annals of human history! If that’s not worrying, I don’t know what is!”

“Hm. Well, what can you do?”

“I mean, transmatting it off the tower would be a split second job, but I can’t rematerialize it without knowing what it’s made of. And for all my strengths, I don’t think I have the computing power to do that on the spot.”

“Did you try?”

“ _Of course I tried_. Didn’t work. But we’ve got to get this thing back to the Tower and have it analyzed.”

“Okay. No problem.” Nadiya unsheathed her knife once more, delicately cutting the device off the control box. “Might’ve sliced some connecting wires up, but that oughta do it.”

“Thank you,” Bluejay replied, zipping back over to the uplink’s input panel. “There we go! Working good as new. Receiving digital confirmation that the uplink’s transmitting once more.”

“Problem solved!” Nadiya said cheerfully, taking a knee again. She slipped the device snugly into the back of her boot, safely between her ankle and the carbon fiber weaving.

“What are you doing with that thing?” Bluejay exclaimed agitatedly.

“Well, you can carry it. Physically, or magically,” Nadiya replied, “And I don’t have pockets. That’s what you’re supposed to be for. So, into the boot it goes.”

“Your boot.”

“Yup.”

Bluejay sighed with disapproval, turning back to the uplink controls. “Well, everything’s still in working order. In fact, we’re getting a signal from the Tower now. Want me to patch you through?”

“Would be rude not to.”

The ghost made a digital harrumph before connecting to the uplink. Abrasive static filled Nadiya’s ears for a moment before a voice came through.

“Kraken? You reading me loud and clear?” It was Tallulah Fairwind, Hunter Vanguard and many years the Gunslinger’s senior.

“Gotcha ma’am. Looks like we got this uplink back to working condition.”

“Great. How’s the weather up there, kid? Hopefully not freezing your balls off.”

Tallulah had a penchant for odd conversation.

“Not too bad. Sun’s shining, only twenty below zero. But I figure you don’t want to hear me complaining.”

“No, I don’t. Hall of Guardians’ heater’s busted at the moment. Osiris refuses to set something inconsequential on fire. Real stick in the mud sometimes.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Nadiya replied. “Well, that’s our primary objective done if you’re doing the paperwork. Our ghosts will be able to contact you all back home immediately now that the uplink’s fixed. We’re just gonna check on the settlement and be on our way.”

“Sure thing, Nadiya.” Nadiya could swear she heard chewing from the Tower end of the line. “You just be careful with those folks. Lotta free spirits think they’re above us back in the City, living in the wild and all. Till they come crawling back for help. I don’t know who you’re dealing with exactly, but who knows? They might be testy.”

“Yeah, I know. Royce and Brand-13 are scouting them out right now. I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

“Woah, woah, woah! You’re not off the chain that easy! Where’s that famous Nadiya personability?”

To Nadiya’s knowledge, there was nothing of the sort. But Tallulah was her Vanguard, and whether she wanted her not, her mentor. It’d been her that had shown her the ropes around the Tower when Nadiya was a kinder-Guardian, figuring out how to adjust to this new life. And even though Tallulah had a knack for talking one’s ear off, she’d coaxed a little more out of Nadiya once or twice.

But this was business. A Vanguard mission. Nadiya hadn’t really thought of dilly-dallying about like Tallulah would’ve before she took on her administrative role. What was there to say?

“Uh, a crow looked at me.”

Tallulah’s laughter was infectious from two hundred miles away, crackling through the transmission like exploding popcorn. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

Nadiya couldn’t help but crack a small smile. “I don’t know. Just thought I should report it. It was a real suspicious crow.”

The Hunter Vanguard’s laughter died down as she composed herself. “Okay, okay. You get back to me if you all need anything. And watch out for any conspicuous crows you come across. I hear they’re giving Guardians a lot trouble nowadays.”

With that, the feed dropped, and Bluejay floated next to his Guardian. “A crow _looked_ at you?”

Nadiya frowned. “Shut it.”


	2. Chapter 2

The path back down the mountain was even more treacherous, with sunset bringing colder temperatures and less light to work with. Nadiya felt like she was walking on eggshells along some parts of the ridge, most of her earlier footprints having vanished under windswept snow. This would’ve been so much easier if she’d been allowed to take the fireteam’s ship up to the uplink, but alas, that could’ve tipped off the villagers.

After three hours of the difficult descent, Nadiya finally laid eyes on their campsite. Though snow had begun to drift from the sky once more, a fire lit the way. A light at the end of the tunnel. The Hunter breathed a sigh of relief as she continued along the cliff.

Eventually, she found stable ground, entering the campsite. Three navy tents were set up around the fire, jostling in the wind, one for each Guardian. The site was only a few yards away from their path further down the mountain, where the village would’ve been visible during daylight hours. Nadiya sighed relief on approach, two familiar figures huddled around the fire.

“Nadiya! Good to have you back!” It was Royce, sitting cross-legged as he ate some rations. The Titan was wearing his radiant pink armor. Snow had attached to his shortly cropped black hair, glistening from the fire’s light as it melted. And like always, his enthusiastic smile drained Nadiya of her worries.

“Hey, Royce. Brand.” Nadiya collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, the frigid snow uncomfortable against her face. A welcome trade to give her fatigued legs some respite.

“Greetings, Hunter.” Brand-13 was kneeling opposite the fire, Astrocyte Verse still glowing on its own, no reflection from the fire necessary. His dark purple robes were neatly creased alongside him, hands clasped together as if in prayer. “What did you find atop the mountain?”

“Ah, gimme a minute,” Nadiya replied, sitting back up and shaking the snow out of her hair. “Bluejay, you got my dinner?”

Her ghost reappeared next to her. “Sure thing!” Beams of light cascaded out of his eye onto her lap, transmatting a ration meal of her own. “Steak and potatoes, ready in two minutes with the fire here.”

“ _Imitation_ steak,” Royce corrected between mouthfuls. “It ain’t the real thing.”

“Figured,” Nadiya sighed, propping the silver bag within the spitfire bowl hanging above the fire. “I really oughta start buying my own food for missions. Tower rations are pitiful. I mean, they’ve got how many awesome restaurants in the plaza? I could kill for ramen right now.”

“Ration packs are not selected for flavor, but for efficacy in the field,” Brand droned, not moving a robotic muscle. “I believe you’d be complaining more if you had to wait fifteen minutes to cook for real.”

Royce’s eyes narrowed. “Says the guy who doesn’t have to eat.”

“Many exos still consume food to help with their cognitive dissonance. Thankfully, I have transcended beyond such worldly desires.”

“Mhm. Tell me about it,” Nadiya said. With a flick of her wrist, a flaming knife appeared between her fingers, which she tossed into the campfire. A small explosion followed, spurring the fire to blaze more wildly. “Sorry. I’m just _really_ hungry.”

“Perhaps so,” Brand replied. “Though I’d prefer if you did not abuse your Light to explode firewood. It is a crude way to cook.”

“Again, the cuisine expert!” Royce chuckled. “But anyways, what did you find up there? Everything smooth sailing now?”

“Yeah. Yeah, tower’s working fine now,” Nadiya said, ignoring the growling of her stomach. Did she really have to wait two minutes for her food? “Bluejay did a quick inspection, nothing was broken, but there was this disruptor. Or something.”

Nadiya propped her foot up and pulled the device out of her boot. In the firelight, it almost appeared to be made of gemstones, warped and molded into this strange technology. “I scraped it off the uplink’s controls, and it began working again. Got a quick call in to Tallulah to report our progress.”

“Well, that’s all well and good,” Royce confirmed. “But why did you have it stored against your leg?”

“That’s the catch. Bluejay said the disruptor was made of some material he didn’t have any records of.”

“I know that sounds strange,” Bluejay interrupted, “But I assure you it’s the truth. Whatever the device is made of, it shouldn’t exist. No know chemical composition, or anything of the sort. We’re dealing with something I don’t understand at all.”

“So… It’s probably not Fallen technology?” Royce guessed.

“Likely not,” Bluejay replied. “Therefore, I cannot transmat it, nor should Morgan or Dismas. If a ghost were to zap it into our storage, the file would be impossible to read back. And therefore could not be recomposited for analysis.”

“So we gotta bring it back to the Tower the old-fashioned way,” Nadiya concluded. “Not a problem. I’ve got plenty of space in my boot.

“Could I, perchance, take a look at the device?” Brand said. He finally shifted, standing to walk over to the Hunter. “Only for a few moments.”

Nadiya handed it up to him. “No problem. But no offense, as smart as Warlocks are, I don’t think you’ll be able to figure it out if a ghost can’t.”

“A Warlock, no,” Brand said, moving back to his knees. “But with the Verse, and the infinite thought that comes with it, I hope to make something of it. This is all quite vexing.”

With the device cupped in his gloves, the Voidwalker froze once more. The stars and nebulae upon the Astrocyte Verse’s façade spiraling out of control as Brand’s head became the raw essence of thought. Or something like that. For all the Traveler’s magic, Nadiya hadn’t quite figured out how the helmet worked.

Though she did figure her food was ready by now. Peeling back the cellophane released a hot vapor that smelled vaguely like food. Bluejay beamed a fork into her hands, and Nadiya began to scarf down this sorry excuse of a meal.

“What about you guys?” Nadiya asked Royce. “I figure Brand’ll be unresponsive for a few minutes.”

“Yeah. I can never tell exactly when he’s zonked out like this. When and how it stops.” Royce placed his food aside scratching his nose. “If he were interested in gossip, I bet he could be the best eavesdropper in the Tower.”

“No kidding.” The Warlock’s stillness was a bit disconcerting. Especially with the knowledge that he sometimes exited this state through fainting, or even brief seizures. But this was in the pursuit of knowledge, and who could stop the guy?

“Anyways… Not much, to be honest. Village is four miles down from here, thankfully a pretty easy path compared to what you had to slog through. Easier than our climb up here, at least. Don’t know why we had to start from the other side of the ridge.

“But it looked quiet. Brand and I observed it for the better part of the time you were gone, when we weren’t pitching the tents that is. No movement. Almost as if it were a ghost town. I don’t know, though. Hard to see details from up here besides outlines of houses.”

“Weird.” Nadiya cupped some snow in her hand and stuffed onto her tongue. Wielding solar Light didn’t make you immune to burning the roof of your mouth. “You think we’re dealing with foul play?”

“I’d guess so. Especially with whatever the hell you found up there. Seems like someone cut off the village’s ability to contact the City. Someone could be scoping them out just like we are. Unless some folks in the mountains discovered some material as of yet undiscovered in all of human history.”

“Yeah. I don’t find that likely either,” Nadiya replied. “So what’s the plan?”

“Well, you fixed the tower. Guess we check on the village tomorrow morning. Never know if this is one of those spots that hates Guardians, so we’d best not sneak in. It’s out of our jurisdiction. We ought to arrive as emissaries, not spies.”

“Agreed. Though we kind of are spying on them already.”

Royce frowned. “I guess so. But we’re spying in a protective way. Not, like, an intrusive way.”

Nadiya shook her head with a vague smile. “You don’t have to convince me we’re the good guys.”

Brand’s mechanical voice returned out of nowhere. “Good is relative. All the Fallen are doing is attempting survival after their own home was destroyed by the Darkness.”

“How long have you been back from the shadow realm or whatever?” Royce said, startled.

“Roughly fifteen seconds,” the Warlock responded. “I urge you to consider the morality of our enemies. Refusing to understand the perspective of those you oppose can only lead to twisted ideology. A fatality a Guardian should never falter to.”

“Brand-13, the beacon of morality,” Royce muttered. “Until the Fallen stop shooting me on sight, I don’t really care where they came from.”

“It was just a thought,” Brand said. “Regardless, I have little to report from my attempted understanding of this object.”

Nadiya folded her arms, giving up on the imitation meat. “Little is better than nothing. Whatcha got for us?”

“Only baseless theory, sadly,” Brand started. “When considering the potential sources of a material hitherto unheard of by humanity, one must consider what lies beyond our comprehension. The Traveler, perhaps. Ghost shells can be crudely constructed, but the Light itself and, presumably, the Traveler, cannot be entirely understood chemically.

“Besides, those wielding the Light would be unlikely candidates. Only the Warlords, perhaps, and what use could they get out of jamming a single uplink? Frankly, those few who remain are improbable causes to develop the Light in ways the City hasn’t thought of.

“Similar methodology rules out the Fallen. Their most intricate technology are simply crude imitations of the Traveler’s Light, leftover ideas from when it graced the Eliksni system. This device is nothing of the sort. It is more mechanical in nature than magic.

“Thus, that leaves me with two guesses, both equally far-fetched. Ahamkara, or the Darkness itself.”

Royce snorted. “You think a wish dragon is helping someone cut off City communication equipment? I’d imagine people would want grander things.”

Brand nodded. “I agree. Thus, perhaps the Darkness is closer than we think. Or, more likely, there are ideas beyond my perspective. The universe is a big place.”

Nadiya pursed her lips. No one understood the Darkness. Records of the Collapse were practically nonexistent. They spoke of gravitational anomalies, terrible storms, mass extinction. But no methodology. Unlikely that this little piece of equipment was their doing.

As the Hunter’s mind wandered, her thoughts came back to the crow. What if it _was_ a suspicious crow? What if it was an Ahamkara? The wish dragons were beyond rare, but who was to say there weren’t any on Earth? It could be possible…

“Nadiya. The device, for your safe-keeping.” The Hunter snapped back to reality to see Brand offering the disruptor back to her. She nodded and took it, slipping it back into her boot.

“Well, this is all getting a little too high concept for me,” Nadiya said, stretching her arms. “I’m gonna grab some shuteye. Hopefully we can find some answers down there in the morning.”

“Hope so,” Royce agreed. “Goodnight, Nadiya.”

“Farewell, Hunter. Should you dream of anything strange, report back to me as always,” the Warlock said.

“For sure. Goodnight guys.” Nadiya made her way to the tent, unable to shake her uneasiness. She was just being paranoid. Besides, what would they say if she brought up the crow? Two times the laughs Tallulah had responded with, maybe. No point in bringing up her crazy hunches.

But it was still a hunch.


	3. Chapter 3

Nadiya was woken early in the morning by bright sunlight suddenly washing over her face. She tossed and turned, trying to ignore the call to action from the fireteam’s resident Warlock. “By my register, you were asleep for nine hours. There should be no reason for you to complain about fatigue.”

A thrown pillow was enough to get through Brand’s starry skull, but the damage was done. Nadiya rubbed her eyes, her pupils having shrunk into dots in a sea of orange courtesy of the open tent flap. Despite being a paracausal being, Nadiya was not a morning person.

“Morning, Guardian,” Bluejay greeted her, flashing into existence. “Want me to transmat your armor on already?”

“Mhm,” Nadiya hummed, running both hands through her hair. In her opinion, one of the worst parts of missions away from the City was the lack of showering. Not a problem on day 2, but she could use the wake-up call.

The Hunter pulled the strange device out from her bedwear’s pocket, setting it aside safely as Bluejay magically replaced her pajamas with her armor. The fit was a lot tighter, but Nadiya instantly felt more alert. More out of association than anything. Wearing her armor, she could practically feel her instincts become sharper, her awareness heighten. Probably just a trick of the mind, but who knew with Hunters?

Outside the tent waited Royce and Brand-13, both outfitted in their armor already as well. Come to think of it, Nadiya wasn’t sure if Brand owned casual clothes. He seldom took the Astrocyte Verse off, let alone the rest of his dark purple robes.

“Howdy, Nadiya,” Royce said cheerfully, stretching his great Titan muscles underneath his armor. “You ready to play ambassador?”

“What?” the Gunslinger replied, startled. “Hang on, I’m not leading the way down there. If they’re hostile towards the City, they’re gonna be freaked out by an Awoken.”

“You calling ‘em racist?” Royce grinned.

“I’m afraid Nadiya is right. It would be best to be precautious,” Brand interjected, standing from his meditation. “Not to say that these people would be naturally prejudiced, but I’d guess they’d respond better to you, Royce.”

Nadiya placed her hands on her hips. “You’re the personable one, anyways.”

Royce looked between his two partners, grin widening. “I figured all that anyway. Don’t worry. Just trying to get the two out of your comfort zones.”

“We’ll be right behind you,” Nadiya assured him.

“And if they are hostile?” Brand asked. “Or if it becomes evident that foul play is involved?”

Royce’s smile faded away. “Well, same protocol as always. We walk in together, in formation, try to talk. Anything else happens, helmets on, weapons ready, and we figure out what’s wrong.”

The Titan grew stern suddenly, his friendly exterior washing away. “I know you two don’t need reminding. But they’re people. We don’t fire unless fired upon. If the need arises, check your corners, but use your utmost discipline. We’re here to help them.”

With that, Royce turned around and began making his way down the mountain, leaving their makeshift camp behind. Nadiya and Brand followed, weapons stowed away. Despite the light drift of falling snow, Nadiya didn’t feel cold. This high up, the sun was unimpeded, shining down harshly. Thankfully, as far as she could tell, Awoken couldn’t be sunburnt.

The climb down left Nadiya’s mind to wander. Royce’s military training was beyond that of a normal City Titan; Guardians, while soldiers, were rarely as rigidly disciplined as Fireteam Kraken’s Defender. Royce was part of a Titan clan called Sons of Mars, known throughout the Tower for their harsh standards, fraternal bonds, and pink-clad armor.

The latter was the only trait that Nadiya could really see in Royce, however. He spent most of his missions with herself and Brand, and never seemed to have much to tell when he did go on patrol or strike missions with his fellows Sons. Nadiya hadn’t felt the desire to join up with a Tower clan, but she figured if she did, she’d feel devoted to it. For all his metallic pink shine, Royce didn’t seem to talk about the Sons that often.

If the three Guardians were on a scale of social circles, Nadiya couldn’t decide who was more isolated; herself, or Brand. She guessed the Warlock, only because she at least tried getting along with other Hunters. Brand seemed to spend all of his time off-mission holed up in laboratories, his own quarters, or pestering fellow Warlocks to join his research of death.

Nadiya found herself curious in his work, but what she heard from other Warlocks was less than flattering. That Brand was chasing figurative shadows, that thanatology was a crackpot science, that the Voidwalker seemed strangely obsessed with his research. Maybe Brand had found a home in Fireteam Kraken since he couldn’t annoy Nadiya and Royce with his research. Where other Warlocks refused to consider it, the two of them simply wouldn’t be intellectually capable of understanding it.

The four mile trek down the mountain was significantly easier than her climb to the uplink the previous day. The only discomfort came from a few slips, dislodging the mysterious disruptor from its snug spot in her boot and digging into her skin. Whatever rock or metal the thing was made of, it was extremely sharp for seemingly having no sharp edges. But Nadiya had dealt with impossibly worse pain than what was basically a rock caught in her shoe.

As the fireteam neared the village, however, it became evident that something was wrong. The lack of movement Royce had described the night before hadn’t changed. Instead, up close it was obvious the town had been ransacked. Some thirty small houses and communal shacks, and maybe half of them had been burnt down or had walls or roofs blown out.

“Helmets on, then,” Royce sighed, his ghost Morgan wordlessly transmatting his Moonfang helm atop his shoulders. The Titan gripped his Antiope-D with both hands, picking up the pace as they neared the village.

Of course, Brand had already been wearing the Verse, but he summoned his Tlaloc now that the circumstances had changed. Nadiya pushed her hair off her forehead as she placed her helmet on, pulling the hood of Bluejay’s cape over. She gripped her Aachen sniper, checking the chamber for frost buildup. No problems.

A quiet anticipation hung over the fireteam. Up to this point, everything had seemed fine, perhaps there’d just been some mix-up with this colony. But each step down the mountain made reality set in just a bit more. The people here had been massacred. Homes destroyed, supplies ransacked. Bodies left out in the open, skin a sickly blue thanks to the cold.

That sight was the one that made Nadiya’s stomach turn. There was a distinct difference between an Awoken’s skin and that of the dead. Her skin shone, its color radiant and soft. The people she saw through her Aachen’s scope… they were bloated. Saved from decomposing thanks to frostbite. Left behind forever.

“What did this?” Royce breathed. With the fireteam now in potential combat, their ghosts transmitted their voices to each other through their helmets.

Nadiya broke the uneasy silence, pulling her eye away from her sniper’s scope. “Wolves.”

There was no question from the others that she didn’t mean the canine. The Aachen’s low-zoom was bothersome, but they were close enough now for Nadiya to spot a few dead Fallen. They wore the dark blue of the House of Wolves, a few casualties in the pirate’s raid of this town. It made sense; the Wolves were one of a few houses known to be on Earth in large numbers, and they often encroached on the City.

As the fireteam reached the perimeter of the town, the destruction became more apparent. Some of the bloated bodies were disemboweled, others burnt, others decapitated. As usual, the Fallen were more ferocious than necessary. Nadiya doubted these people fought back enough to warrant this, not that they could. They were just humans.

“Y’know, they say that parents tell their kids in the City horror stories about the Fallen,” Royce said, kneeling down next to a dead child. Their torso was covered in snow, leaning against some rubble. Nadiya felt chills thinking about what lay underneath.

“Your point?” Brand asked. The Warlock stood at the center of the road through the town, his voice showing a rare sign of emotion.

“That always struck me as fairy tales. Because we’re usually rolling over them.” Royce stood back up, shaking his head. “Dregs eating babies, servitor mind control. That sort of thing. But this…”

“This is the real thing,” Nadiya spoke.

Royce bit his lip beneath his helmet. “Worse than that. Don’t think I’ve ever seen such viciousness from them.”

Nadiya averted her eyes from the child, walking forward a little more. The sniper in her hands felt useless. For all the fighting they could do, they couldn’t bring back the dead. There were always human casualties, and for all their superpowers, this always left her feeling so helpless. Like she needed to throw up.

“I believe you’re correct. The Fallen are barbaric, but this is especially so. Perhaps they’re growing desperate,” Brand noted.

Royce grunted in reply. Nadiya pretended to be out of earshot, accidentally locking eyes with a dead dreg. Maybe the poor bastards wanted to bring everyone else down to their level, missing two arms and such.

It was still inexcusable. She gave it a half-hearted kick in its navy-clad torso.

“Well, there’s no need to dwell on this,” Brand said. “Dismas, can you pick up any vital signs in the area? Perhaps any miraculous survivors?”

The Warlock’s disgruntled ghost piped up through the Guardians’ comms. “No. Based on the rot of the bodies, this attack happened five days ago. Any survivors have most likely fled already.”

“Maybe the City can send search parties when we’re back?” Nadiya offered.

Brand could only shake his head solemnly. “We’re already stretched thin. This is evidence enough that the Fallen were massacring, not just raiding. We ought to check for supplies to confirm a motive, then hurry back and report. Get your ghosts to scan the area, search for anything the Fallen might’ve pillaged.”

The Warlock stepped forward with Dismas by his side, walking right past Nadiya as if she weren’t there. Her face flushed with disdain… or envy? How could Brand keep his cool so easily amidst this display?

Royce, at least, approached her, giving a slight head nod that she could approximate as a weak smile under his pink helm. “He’s right, y’know. There’s nothing for us here. It’s just… awful. Let’s be done here as soon as possible.”

The Titan waited for a response, however, long enough that Nadiya felt contractually obligated to offer a shrug. “Yeah…”

Nadiya spent the next ten minutes shifting through burnt remains of houses, alone except for the occasional scan from Bluejay. He knew better than to interject at times like this. For all his optimism, nothing could fix something as depressing as this. At least, not without Nadiya initiating.

It came as Nadiya stared at an abandoned bed. Transfixed, she wondered who had been spending a third of their life lying on this very thing just a week before. A couple, perhaps? It was large enough for two. Did they have kids? Were they married? Did this village even grasp the concept of marriage? Sometimes these places were so far removed from more familiar human culture.

But she couldn’t escape that lack of fulfillment. That these people’s lives were cut short, and they must not have accomplished everything they wanted. It just took one bad day, and their lives were erased by the Fallen. With no warning whatsoever.

“Bluejay?” the Hunter finally said. “Do you know what Lee-4 is up to these days?”

The ghost twitched as he hovered alongside her. “Weird question.”

“I know. I’m just curious. I just haven’t spoken to her since Chicago.”

“Well, there’s not much to say,” Bluejay replied. “She mainly just does patrols. Not much time in the Tower. Pretty standard stuff for a Hunter.”

“But she used to lead fireteams. Like Gamma, when I met her.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Bluejay spun his shell in confusion, the white bits briefly overhanging his signature blue and black. “Still a weird question.”

Nadiya finally turned to her ghost, distress hidden behind her helmet. “What if that’s what I should be doing? Just out there alone, a Hunter hunting things? Scouting out Earth, year-long missions, stuff like that?”

Bluejay narrowed his eye. “Why the sudden change in career path? You’ve been working with these guys for three years, things have been going great.”

“Yeah, I know. For us. But maybe not for me.”

Bluejay’s eye widened, a softer electronic expression. “Can you explain? I’m not sure I understand.”

Nadiya sat on the bed. The wool covers were safe from the town’s destruction, save for some ash residue to counteract the fabric’s scratchiness. She tried to ignore it.

“What we have here, with Kraken. It’s great. It really is. They’re my friends.” Nadiya placed her sniper beside her, racking her brain for the words. “But we don’t have a fireteam leader.”

“So?”

“It _could_ be me. I mean, we’re reporting back to Tallulah most of the time anyways, and I know her more than they do. We’ve been at this for three years, it should be me at this point.”

Bluejay’s eye narrowed once more. “So… You want a promotion?”

“No!”

“I mean just ask them, I don’t think either would really care. Royce is all ‘rah-rah’ Titan, he’ll probably be happy to take orders, and I don’t think Brand would notice a difference-”

“No, Bluejay, stop. You’re not listening.”

The ghost bristled a bit. They never fought, per se, but this was uncomfortable for the poor little drone to take in.

“Sometimes I feel like this is for nothing. Like, for all the work we’ve done in the past few years, how many people have we actually saved?”

“Countless. Every mission helps the City. You can’t put a number on that.”

“But how many dead do we have to come across? Bruce’s camp was probably doomed, I failed his refugees, and here’s yet another village that all the Light in the world couldn’t help.”

“It’s part of the job,” Bluejay said softly. “I thought you were used to it.”

“I am. And I know. You can’t save everyone.” Nadiya shrugged half-heartedly. “Sometimes I wish I could stop trying, though. Just go out into the stars and work, without having to worry about people.”

There was a beat of silence as she searched for how to continue. “I feel like, I should know who I am by now. Know how to be a leader. And if I don’t, then… Maybe I need a sabbatical. Like Lee, apparently. To find myself, or something.”

Bluejay drifted down beside her. “I don’t think you do.”

“Of course not. I’m your chosen. In your eyes, I’m perfect, I’m a Guardian, blah blah blah. But I can’t even hold my stomach for missions like this. Things get awful and…” Nadiya gestured at nothing in particular. “And I get like this.”

“I don’t think you’re perfect,” her ghost replied. “Far from it. You’re not new anymore, but think of how long some of these Guardians have been at it. Decades, maybe a century for some of them. Some of them have been saving people since before you were _called_ Guardians.

“ _But I know you._ I know what you’re capable of. Doing good work, no matter how awful it can feel. I waited for what felt like infinity to find my Guardian, and I couldn’t be prouder of you. No amount of your self-doubt will change that for me. I know who you are. What you are. And you know you’re just being silly.”

Nadiya pursed her lips. Her helmet felt suffocating sometimes. “Maybe. I just wish we could get a happy ending every once in a while. See that nothing was wrong.”

Bluejay perked back up, floating back up to his Guardian’s face. “Well, you’ve come this far. So just keep pushing. Otherwise you’ll never see things get better. And we both deserve that.”

Nadiya had barely finished nodding in weak acknowledgement before Royce came barreling through the dilapidated house’s entryway. “Nadiya. You should see this.”

The Gunslinger instantly shed her exhaustion. Royce sounded uncharacteristically worried. “What is it?”

The Defender could only shake his head. “You should see for yourself.”

Royce led her through the town, deeper into the graveyard the Fallen had left behind, and stopped where Brand was posted. The Warlock was staring at the wall of a mostly intact house, the Verse’s infinite space swirling as he thought hard underneath. Nadiya turned to match his gaze, and could only gasp.

Carved onto the façade was a sigil. A repeating pattern of a circle embedded within another, and two long lines traced to the bottom right. They’d been crudely cleaved into the wall by a Fallen sword, taking up the entire wall.

“The House of Scar?” Nadiya breathed. Even without the colors of burnt orange and yellow, it was unmistakable. The logo couldn’t be more distinct from the Wolves’. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither do we,” Brand said. “There were no remains of Scar troops throughout the entire village, so the meaning is unclear. A warning to another house?”

“Or they’re working together,” Nadiya guessed. The Fallen scarcely joined forces. They’d been divided into their houses long before arriving in Sol. But it wasn’t unprecedented.

“There’s more, though,” Royce said. He pointed towards a path leading further west down the mountain. “Footprints. And Morgan said they’re fresh, only a couple hours old.”

Nadiya made her way over behind the house, finding the divots in the snow. They were no doubt human-shaped. “Maybe there was a survivor after all?”

“It’s the only fresh trail we could pick up on,” Royce continued. “But we might be able to save someone, at least. Get them back to the City.”

“And find out what happened here,” Brand interjected.

Nadiya nodded. “Well, let’s go then. We’ve got plenty of daylight. And we should outpace a normal human easily.”

Brand gestured forward. “You’re the Hunter, Nadiya. Lead the way.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, long wait. Sorry to everyone reading this! Life got in the way with the end of my semester picking up full steam, and then of course Beyond Light came out! So I have not been writing much for... a month and a half. Woah.
> 
> Thankfully I have that much time off with (relatively) few responsibilities. So expect a lot more quite quickly. Thanks for reading as always, I hope you enjoy!

The trail lead even further down the mountain, along – thankfully – easier to navigate terrain. Thanks to the lack of fresh snowfall, the footprints were easy for Nadiya to follow without Bluejay’s help. And even when they’d been swept over to some extent, it was nothing her Hunter instincts couldn’t pick up on.

Brand-13 and Royce followed close behind, both silently gripping their weapons with anticipation. The prospect of a survivor was certainly exciting, but Guardians had gotten their hopes up too many times for them to be dashed away. They could be walking right into the remains of the Wolf raid party, even if the prints suggested otherwise.

Or even something stranger. Because there was that damn crow again, following their movement. Nadiya must have spotted it a dozen times, sometimes perched on a rock outcrop, more often flying overhead. She couldn’t shake the instinct that she was being paranoid, and yet there it was, always. It couldn’t be coincidence.

The Gunslinger thought back to Brand’s suggestion. _An Ahamkara_. The scavenger could very well be a wish dragon, leading them along to its lair. The footprints would’ve been easy to forge for the shapeshifter. And now it could be watching its prey, no care taken to whether it was spotted. Because a crow was just part of nature. Perfectly inconspicuous, right?

Little was known about Ahamkara. Whether they were creatures of the Dark, or something else entirely, it was anyone’s guess. But the legends left an impression. Strange beings that granted wishes, but twisted one’s desires for their own gain. Such magic could be paracausal in a way only Guardians had been considered by relevant Warlock scholars.

A formidable foe indeed. Nadiya’s Cadenza pulse felt suddenly useless in her hands. Not because it wasn’t her weapon of choice. But she had no idea if a conventional gun could have any effect on such a being.

She replaced her pulse with a flaming knife, conjured in an instant to twirl between her fingers. Perhaps her Light could be a match for an Ahamkara. That seemed like a safer bet.

After a good half hour of descent, the trail lead up a small rise in the mountain’s terrain. The prints had grown progressively fresher, and the crow had darted over the outcrop. Nadiya turned back to her fireteam partners apprehensively. “I think we might be coming up on something,” she said through her comm radio, keeping silent beyond her helmet. “Be ready.”

The Guardians slogged their way up the rise, stopping at the crest of the path. Nadiya laid prone at the zenith, Brand and Royce following suit. For they’d found _something_ , but probably not the Ahamkara they might’ve expected.

Just ahead was a small camp, with one humanoid figure packing things up hastily. They were clad in black and violet, a sleek jumpsuit with emblems on it Nadiya didn’t recognize. And behind them sat a strange-looking ship, nestled on top of the snow. The ship was purple and yellow, with four distinct prongs extending out of the cockpit.

“Nadiya,” Bluejay chimed in within her head, “That ship. It looks just like the one I resurrected you in.”

“Curious,” Brand replied. “I don’t recognize the design.”

“I know!” Bluejay exclaimed. “It doesn’t match any of my records, pre-Collapse or otherwise. But this is the only time I’ve seen one besides the crashed ship I found Nadiya in back in the Badlands.”

Nadiya pursed her lips, pulling out her Aachen and staring through the scope. The figure’s face was hidden behind their armor, yet she could tell they were working with haste. They gestured into nothing between lifting loads to be transmatted away, presumably into the ship. They were talking to someone. And lo and behold, Nadiya’s least favorite bird in the world was resting atop one of the jumpship’s spindles.

“Bluejay,” she said, staring at the crow. “Can you find any radio channels being broadcasted from by this guy? I think they’re talking to someone.”

“Hold on.” Her invisible partner made some glitchy noises as he worked within her head. “I think I’ve got something, but it’s heavily encrypted. Give me a second…”

After a few moments, Bluejay patched through the figure’s radio feed. The voice was low and urgent, a cool masculine professionalism that was breached with anxiety. “…and as much as I’d like to report otherwise, the sigil matches that of the other sites. There’s no doubt a pattern of behavior.”

A different voice – colder, sharper, unconcerned – responded immediately. “A dozen incidents betrays coincidence.” There’s a moment of silence, punctuated by the faint sound of a pen scratching paper. “What more can you report?”

“Not much,” the first voice continued. “Similarities exceed the House of Scar’s sigil showing up amidst the remains. Though this was a House of Wolves operation presumably, as opposed to the Devils ones I’ve been investigating.

“The wanton violence looks unprovoked. There was no strategic importance to this village, except a radio tower of some kind. No transmissions from it, so my first instinct was that it was some abandoned equipment from old Earth.”

“But?”

“But some of the City’s lackeys showed up shortly after I did.” Royce and Nadiya shared a look. “Didn’t have time to check. But context clues show…”

“That’s probably what drew the _Guardians_ there.” The second voice was tinged with venom, as if being a _Guardian_ were some vile, selfish act.

“Yes, sir. As such I didn’t have time to investigate further. But if the same Scar was involved as the evidence suggests, and the City knew to send someone here, I’d guess he’s using our stolen tech somehow.”

The jammer suddenly felt heavy in Nadiya’s boot. “Not sure what the Scar’s aim is. Maybe just ruffle some feathers. Maybe they just have a penchant for killing. But if they’re able to reverse engineer everything we’ve learned from Riven-”

“Cadet! Careful where you speak of our secrets.”

“Apologies, sir.” The figure shook his head below the fireteam, apparently flustered. “I only meant that this Eliksni heist could have long-term consequences. I only worry-”

“Leave the worrying to your Queen, Warren. Believe in the plan.”

“Of course, sir.”

“You’ve done good fieldwork. If the City-born are indeed on your tail, return to site Gamma Epsilon Rho. Initiate relevant protocols. Await further instruction.”

“Yes, sir.”

There was a brief sound of static as the feed cut off. “That’s it. Feed dropped,” Bluejay confirmed. The Guardians all exchanged glances once more.

“What the hell _was_ all of that?” Royce breathed. Hidden behind his helmet was one of the most flabbergasted expressions the Titan had ever worn. “Brand?”

But even the Warlock seemed stumped. “I do not understand either. Another human party besides the City, with enough technological advancements to manufacture their own things our ghosts are unfamiliar with. Perhaps we’ve stumbled upon a citizen of the Free Capitals…”

But all this surmising meant nothing to Nadiya. There was something intangible pulling at her, not too dissimilar from that pull of the Light. This person, whoever, _whatever_ they were, it had to mean something. Like Bluejay had said, they knew of one such ship: the one she’d been resurrected in.

And before the her ghost or her fireteam could protest, the Gunslinger had bound to her feet, rifle in hand, hastily making her way down the outcrop. For all the superpowers at her disposal, nothing stopped the blood rushing to her ears, her heart pounding in her chest, her rattled breaths feeling louder than normal. Whoever this person was, they _had_ to have answers. This was the closest thing to a lead she’d gotten in three years.

The erratic calls for caution through her helmet become too much to ignore. Nadiya ripped the helmet off, biting mountain air a welcome reprieve from her fireteam’s nagging. She marched forward, dropping her helmet in the snow beside her. The crunch announced her arrival.

Before her laid the strangest looking ship, a now-cleared camp, and a figure paralyzed by her presence. The figure was silent, hidden behind their armor. What little light snowfall there was accented the dark violet prettily, drawing out the bright gold of a familiar crest on the figure’s shoulder.

It was oddly fixating. Nadiya felt that strange tug of familiarity again, like the Traveler calling to her. But this was different. The Traveler spoke to her heart. This was her brain, trying to place the crest. She knew it somehow, deep down, but couldn’t find the memory. This had to be from her past, blocked by whatever voodoo Bluejay had used when bringing her back to life.

And yet she couldn’t think of anything to say. The figure stood her opposite, unmoving. The crow swooped down to their shoulder, turning its bright white eye towards Nadiya. It was dumbfounding. Confirmation that the bird was a drone of some sort, seemingly an equal amount of confusion from the other person.

Thankfully, Nadiya didn’t break first. “Impossible,” the voice said. What agitation had shown through on the radio call had been replaced by utter amazement. Or disbelief. Nadiya couldn’t quite pin it down.

The Hunter simply stared back unmoving. That was a benefit of her powers she’d grown accustomed to: unrivaled focus. Nadiya was keenly aware of so much at that moment: the frigid wind on her face, blowing her hair every which way; the low rumble of the ship’s engine powering up; and the hurried stumbling of her fireteam following close behind. But nothing could break her concentration. She needed answers.

“Megaera.” It was a whisper, hushed as if taboo to speak out loud. The figure started forward, footsteps dragging through imaginary mud. They raised a hand slowly, as if Nadiya would burn to the touch even from ten yards away.

 _Megaera_. A name?

The figure hesitated more, stepping back from Nadiya with caution. “But sir, you can see from my crow… It’s _her_. She’s one of _them_ now!” Though they spoke in whispers, each word had the punctuation of a desperate shout.

It had to be a name. _Her_ _name_. From before all of this, whatever life she had lived, this person clearly held the answers. Whatever restraint she had left fell away in an instant, and Nadiya found herself throwing a volley of questions practically against her will. “Who are you? Where did you and your ship come from? What do you know about this attack?

“ _And_ _how do you know me?_ ”

Her opposite had no intention of responding, it seemed, bending their head low as they instead listened to commands from whatever radio feed Bluejay had intercepted. Without her helmet, it was a one-sided conversation from Nadiya’s perspective. “But sir, should we not defer to Jolyon? He has to have the final say on this. It’s only right.”

But whatever their instructions were left them disappointed. The figure turned back to Nadiya from their mechanical crow. “Confirming Protocol Tau Sigma. Crow, initiate launch sequence.”

The whirring of the ship’s engines suddenly became more pronounced. Nadiya’s grip on her knife tightened, barely holding back the internal drive to gut this interloper until they gave her answers. “You’re not leaving without talking to me. You know I have questions.”

They hesitated once more, a bobbing of the head underneath the helmet probably showing a deep sigh. “Megaera, I…”

Then, they gave the closest thing to an olive branch they’d shown for the entire interaction. Their hand lifted up to their helmet, pressing something that moved a visor on their helmet out of the way. It revealed the man’s eyes, stormy gray, but more importantly their skin.

Shining, radiant blue. Rivers of light pulsing this way and that, as if the blood underneath was too charged with magic to sit still. They were Awoken.

“Now is not the time,” the Awoken man said, his face still mostly hidden behind the helmet. “And for the record, I’m sorry.”

Nadiya felt a lump at her throat as she tried to speak up. “Wait! Please!”

And just like that, the only Awoken Nadiya had found outside the City faded away, presumably transmatting into the ship. Whatever hold her focus had splintered in seconds, overwhelmed with emotion. The ship’s engines roared over her fireteam’s panicked shouting. She fell to her knees, hyperventilating. What the hell had just happened?

She heard gunshots, muffled as she lost her bearings. The ship darted away, blasting off out of the atmosphere far before the Guardians could do anything about it. And that only lead was gone as suddenly as it had arrived.

A gloved hand touched Nadiya’s shoulder, bringing her back to reality. She turned to see Brand-13, baring his face sans the Astrocyte Verse. The metal lines above his glowing eyes were curved into as much of a look of concern the exo could manage. But wordlessly, she understood.

For all of his researching, Brand still didn’t know where he came from either. He knew this pain.

But, Nadiya thought as she bit her lip, he’d never gotten this close.


	5. Chapter 5

“And that was it. As it happened.”

There was a lump in Nadiya’s throat as she finished her report. With how low profile most of her work had been as a newer Guardian, she wasn’t used to failure. And that’s what this was. They’d failed to save anyone, failed to track down the offending Fallen, and failed to follow up on the one lead they’d gotten. All they had to show for things was a mere gadget.

The Hunter Vanguard, however, seemed much less concerned with Fireteam Kraken’s results. Tallulah Fairwind had her feet kicked up on the massive table here in the Hall of Guardians. She took notes with a weathered pen, precariously balancing her chair on the back legs. She offered no immediate reaction to Nadiya’s dejected tone save for flipping some auburn hair off her face.

Nadiya, by comparison, could not have looked more rigid. The Gunslinger stood about face, nervously avoiding eye contact with her boss. Not that she expected Tallulah of all people to blow up on her. But everything about her trip to the Andes had just rubbed her the wrong way. It was hard to stand proud here reporting on it, much less be as loose as the Vanguard always carried herself.

Tallulah finally broke her silence, tapping her pen against her chin. “So what, you basically had a panic attack?”

Nadiya pursed her lip. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“That wasn’t a jab, for the record,” Tallulah quickly said, leaning back forward in her chair. “All of the Light in the world doesn’t stop us from freezing up every once in a while. And I’d guess that would’ve been quite the shock to you.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Ease up, Nad,” Tallulah laughed. She shook her head. “We’re not infallible. No Guardians died. It’s not the end of the world.”

“People died, though,” Nadiya quickly snapped.

“Yeah. But the three of you were dispatched after that happened. There was nothing you could’ve done.”

Nadiya frowned, but nodded to her superior. Tallulah sighed, placing her notebook on top of a map of somewhere called the Outback, supposedly important locations marked by knives jammed upright through the table. The Vanguard clasped her hands together, still holding a low smile. “Look, I get it. But you can’t beat yourself up over these things. We can’t save everyone.”

“I know that,” Nadiya replied. “I’ve unfortunately already learned that lesson. I’m just pissed I let that guy get away. It was like my brain just shut down. It’s not like me. I’ve been at this for too long.”

Tallulah shrugged. “There’s a reason that the Traveler brings us back without our former memories. It’s hard to confront the fact that we already lived a life, same consciousness, same bag of bones, all of it. And that’s just so weird to think about, you kinda get whiplash, you know? I mean, imagine all the cool shit I did in my old life. Wish I could remember all that, yeah?”

She shook her head, wistfully ridding the thought from her mind. “But I get why we don’t. If we remember everything, we might prioritize that. Be crippled by our old life, what we lost, what could’ve been. People are supposed to stay dead. So wiping our memories, that’s the next best thing. So, my advice as your superior: drop the whole thing. You never heard the name Megaera, because it doesn’t matter. That’s not who you are anymore.”

Nadiya looked understandably unsatisfied with the answer, leading to Tallulah breaking a sheepish grin. She leaned forward, looking side-to-side as if someone might be listening. “But between you and me, that’s official Vanguard policy. And that’s more the Speaker’s will than anything. If you think Megaera was worth knowing about, I’m not gonna stop you. You and me,” she said, pointing between them both, “we’re Hunters. It’s in our blood to get antsy ‘bout this kinda thing.”

The Gunslinger finally relaxed a little bit, crossing her arms and leaning on the Vanguard’s table. “Well, thanks for your permission. But I don’t have any leads. Whole thing was just a flash in the pan,” she explained, waving her hand dismissively.

“You don’t know that,” Tallulah responded. “You said you recognized the ship. Maybe you could investigate that further.”

Nadiya shook her head. “All I said was that I recognized it from when I was resurrected. Doesn’t mean anything if we don’t know where they were going. Wherever the Awoken come from, we’ve got nothing. All of us are either Guardians with no memories, or sworn to secrecy for some reason. And it’s not like there’s many of us in the City.”

Tallulah looked around once more conspicuously. “To be honest, I think Osiris knows more than he lets on. But we can’t devote any resources to chasing shadows. Too many problems here on Earth, with the Fallen and all.”

The Vanguard Commander and leader of the Warlocks was not present at the moment. His side of the desk was as unkept as Tallulah’s, though filled with more official looking parchments and numerous instruments Nadiya didn’t recognize. Osiris was no doubt the most eccentric of the Vanguard, always leaving the Tower for research purposes. Though that wasn’t really supposed to be his job, no one had the guts to say otherwise. Especially considering Osiris was maybe the strongest Guardian of them all. And that his confidant was the Titan Vanguard, and would surely take issue with any slander towards his friend.

 _Friend_. Nadiya hazarded a glance towards Saint-14, boisterously laughing with a few fellow Titans on the far end of the table. Osiris and Saint’s relationship was the biggest open secret in the Tower, even though inter-Guardian fraternizing to such a degree was supposed to be against Vanguard policy. Though no one seemed to mind. The couple were somewhat reserved in public together, and besides, they’d led the City alongside Tallulah ever since the Consensus had been established.

Nadiya finally turned back to Tallulah, who was waiting curiously. “Sorry, just let my mind wander,” she said. “But do you really think Osiris knows anything about the Awoken?”

“He’d be a good bet,” Tallulah replied, then narrowed her eyes. “But don’t be getting any ideas. You start poking him for answers, he’ll be the first to reprimand you for looking into your past.” She crossed her arms behind her head, leaning back into her chair once more. “I won’t stop you, but Mr. Phoenix sure might.”

“And Saint?” Nadiya asked, darting her eyes over to the plume of purple feathers atop the Titan’s helm. “You think Osiris tells him everything?”

“I hope not. Otherwise I’d feel left out,” Tallulah said, grinning slyly. “I doubt Saint would remember anyways. He’s got too much saving to worry about, and honestly he’s a little too thick-skulled to remember a whole lot at once.”

“Pray that you never abandon your post, Hunter,” the drawling voice of Saint-14 suddenly called out from across the table, “for I will be the first to knock more than enough sense into you.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay russki. You’d never catch me anyways,” Tallulah called back.

“Russki?” Nadiya whispered, “Like Old Russia? I thought Saint was Greek.”

“Greek? How do you figure?”

“I don’t know, I just assumed, kinda.”

“Maybe you’re a bad Hunter if you can’t pick up on accents.”

Nadiya furrowed her brow. “I swear, I just thought. I don’t know, the exo filter or whatever can make it hard to tell.”

“Okay, weirdo,” Tallulah replied, popping a potato chip from a bag Nadiya had never seen her grab. “Just remember what I said. Don’t beat yourself up, and try to figure out who Megaera was. You never know what you might find. And you could use some direction.”

The last comment felt like a thinly veiled insult, but Nadiya paid it no mind. “I don’t think I’ll bother. Who knows where the Awoken are. They’re either aliens or didn’t exist before the Collapse, and either one of those possibilities means they probably don’t want to be found.”

“ _You’re_ an Awoken too,” Tallulah said, pressing a somewhat greasy finger to Nadiya’s chest. “And if they’re so obviously humanoid, you’re probably not an alien.”

Nadiya harrumphed. “I may be Awoken, but the second I meet one of them, the freak out and leave. Don’t really feel like one of them.” She crossed her arms. “I know you’re trying to be encouraging, but I think what Osiris would say is right. It’ll just weigh on my mind. There’s too much for us to be worrying about. It’ll interfere with my missions.”

“You should be wearing blue and orange if you’re going to talk like that,” Tallulah said. She perked up though, offering a reassuring smile. “If you don’t want to worry about all this, then don’t. But I expect results. If I’m gonna be pushing paperwork up here all day I want to hear some good stories from my Hunters. From now on, I’ve got to worry about crows showing up in my scouts’ reports. That’s a blessing, and a curse.”

Nadiya wasn’t entirely sure what all that meant, but she smiled weakly regardless. “Of course, ma’am.”

“And stop being so formal, for Light’s sake,” the Vanguard continued. “Get some rest, Nad. We’ll find a new assignment for Fireteam Kraken shortly. In the meantime, try to loosen up. You stay this stiff you’re gonna break out on the field.”

“Yes… okay.” Nadiya stopped herself from offering a cordial salute, and instead turned away to leave the hall. A few other Guardians were waiting to speak with either Tallulah or Saint-14, while some loitered as they complained about Osiris dodging a scheduled meeting with their fireteam or Warlock order for the umpteenth time. Nadiya avoided some passing glances and made her way up the stairs to the Tower Plaza.

Nadiya’d never quite gotten used to how astonishing the view of the Last City was from up here. The Traveler hung low miles away, dominating the sky. Below it were the highest skyscrapers, stretching out towards the sleeping god. The connection between midtown and the Tower was the most developed part of the City, a river of civilization that was slowly overflowing to all of the land within the walls.

The Plaza itself was a sight in and of itself. Guardians milled about in sizable numbers, even in this twilight hour: inspecting weapons and gear at the vaults; investigating the bounty board; or disappointedly walking away from the crypto-archeologist tent. Most of Nadiya’s peers were outfitted in brighter armor, with flashier cloaks, glowing bonds, or embroidered marks. She recognized some armor sets, though didn’t stop to make conversation.

This tower was _The Tower_ , the first and most important of the half dozen or so that lined the City’s walls. It was where the Vanguard operated from, where the most Guardian barracks were located, and had the best view of the City. It was also, consequentially, the most expensive spot for supplies or food.

“Nadiya! Over here!” It was Royce, still clad in his vibrant pink Moonfang set, save for the helmet. He was leaned up against the postmaster’s stand, holding a couple drinks from the markets below. The Defender offered one to Nadiya as she approached, who cupped the cardboard cup between her hands. “It’s coffee. I was getting antsy waiting.”

“Thanks,” Nadiya said, taking a sip from what was – supposedly – coffee. Her face twisted up at the sweetness, which masked anything resembling the bitter black drink she opted for. “Um, what kind?”

“It’s a double caramel macchiato twist. It was some café’s item of the day downstairs,” Royce replied, clearly not taking any issue with having enough sugar to feed a family. He drained what little was left of the beverage to make that extra clear.

It was the thought that counted, Nadiya supposed. She raised the cup in thanks and took another small sip before joining the Titan against the wall. “Tallulah didn’t really tell me much. Nothing to say about most of the report except making sure I was okay.”

“And are you?” Royce asked.

“Of course,” Nadiya said quickly, taking a larger sip. “It was disorienting, that’s all. We’ve got bigger fish to fry than trying to dig up my past. Doesn’t matter.”

“If you say so,” Royce mused. “Though you ought to tell Brand. He’s already hit some Warlock library off limits to us two. Searching for any and all mentions of the Awoken’s origins on your behalf.”

“I don’t think he’ll be that receptive, but sure.” Nadiya worried about that. Brand and Royce were always doing so much to help her out. She was still the newest Guardian of their trio, and she could tell they thought of her that way. And yeah, helping was supposed to be what friends do, but she never wanted to be a _burden_.

“But Fairwind didn’t give you anything further?” Royce asked. “Not even on the House of Scar?”

He had every right to be curious. In the three years since Fireteam Kraken had met in Old Chicago amidst a House of Scar operation, the house had been dealt a tough hand. A battle in the Great White against the House of Devils had left the Scars reeling, and not long after had their Kell been stripped of his honor. Intelligence suggested he’d been docked and left for dead – common practice for dregs, a death sentence for a former Eliksni leader.

And in the wake of that, the Scars’ presence had faltered. What was left of their territory was scooped up by the Devils, or Kings, or Wolves. Which made it abundantly clear that a Scar working with the Wolves was reason for the Vanguard to be concerned.

“She didn’t comment on it, no,” Nadiya confirmed. “Maybe made a face when I got to that point. But she didn’t feel pressed to reveal anything. And… I forgot to ask. She was getting in my head about the Awoken.”

Royce waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. Can’t mean much. Probably just some former Scar who thinks their old sigil looks pretty.” Nadiya wasn’t certain he was really that confident in that theory, however.

“Anyways, Tallulah said they’d find another assignment for us pretty soon,” Nadiya continued. “I don’t have much glimmer to kill, so I’ll probably just be picking up so bounties around the City outskirts if you want to join me in the next few days.”

The Defender nodded. “I’ll try to. Sons of Mars are apparently taking a group expedition in the next week, so I’m on standby for that. Fireteam Kraken may have to be temporarily on hold.”

“Oh.” Nadiya tried to hide her disappointment. “Where to?”

“Surprisingly enough, Mars,” Royce grinned. “It’s our annual initiation of new recruits. Can’t tell you where on the red planet, sworn to secrecy, and all that. But it should be a hoot.”

“Okay,” Nadiya sighed, “Guess I’ll see if Brand is interested in tagging along. I’ve gotta make some money, Vanguard assignments never pay all that well.”

Royce nodded. “Don’t I know it. You really ought to join a clan. You get paid more for group work, and interested parties are always sponsoring our work. Not everyone’s as cutthroat as the Sons, either.”

The Titan’s tone reminded Nadiya of Tallulah’s earlier comment. _You could use some direction_. This time, it stung a little bit more. Not that they were picking on her. But that they were worried, or something. Nadiya didn’t really understand.

She did know, however, that she didn’t need a clan. The way Royce talked about the Sons of Mars, you’d think it was a cult. What with the rituals, secrecy, grueling effort to join. From what she could gather, he didn’t even like them that much – he was, after all, more often working with her and Brand as part of Kraken than anyone in the Sons.

Then again, that loose concept of ‘direction’ could be useful. Nadiya thought back to her conversation with Bluejay, who was off at some cryptarch lab recounting how they’d discovered the mystery jammer. Maybe she needed a sabbatical of sorts. To expand her horizons, or something. Maybe, despite everything she thought, a clan might offer that.

“I’ll think about it,” she finally responded, offering an assuring smile to Royce. “I guess I’m still finding my footing. Don’t know if I’m ready.”

“Believe me, you are,” Royce said. “I’ve seen you pull off some crazy stunts. You could give any battalion of Hunters a run for their money. Trust me.”

The Titan closed his thought by slapping Nadiya on the back. Even with her cloak and armor, it was enough to push her forward a bit, sending a bit of the coffee concoction onto the ground. A nearby sweeper bot let out an aggravated groan.

“Sorry!” Nadiya said, stepping out of the way of the frame’s fast approach. The poor thing seldom garnered sympathy from Guardians, but Nadiya couldn’t help it. If exos had consciousness, she honestly had no idea how close to human frames were.

“I’ve gotta go, though,” Royce said. “Get some rest, just in case I’m called in early.”

“Alright. G’night. And let me know if or when you’re available,” Nadiya said.

Royce smiled before walking away, leaving Nadiya on her own in the Plaza. She forced down another sip of the macchiato twist, or whatever. And what do you know, it was growing on her.

She walked to the railing at the edge of the Plaza, where there was nothing blocking the view of the Traveler and the Last City below. As gorgeous as ever.

And there she stood for a while. Thinking. Three years as a Guardian. Maybe it was time for her to look beyond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that took forever!
> 
> Thanks for sticking with my writing for a while now, 'A Crow Looked At Me' should've been a short gig but life got in the way. Now, the main event. Stay tuned. We're going to the Cosmodrome.


End file.
